Your Roadmap to IT Modernization: Modernizing Culture & Technology for Effective Transformation

In GovLoop’s guide, Your Roadmap to IT Modernization, Doug VanDyke, General Manager and Director of the U.S. Federal Sector, Amazon Web Services, shares what modernization means, the benefits of modernization, and some of the most critical challenges facing IT executives in the government today. 

“In order to keep up with the changes in technology, it’s important to build an IT workforce that understands what the new technologies are and help them stay ahead of the technology learning curves,” VanDyke said.

Specifically, VanDyke said that government can effectively modernize by applying agile development, cultural changes, and modern platforms that enhance existing government applications.

Agencies should look for these qualities in their technology platforms:

• Security: Cloud platforms and infrastructure that puts strong safeguards in place to protect government data and citizen privacy with information stored in highly secure data centers.
• Private, isolated resources: Cloud architectures can offer the right amount of isolation (degree of privacy) to protect government applications as well as the ability to choose how much to integrate with existing resources.
• Compliance: Rich controls, auditing, and broad security accreditations are essential to maintain compliance with federal requirements, such as those laid out in FedRAMP.
• Hybrid: Architectures that combine on-premises and cloud capabilities can help government agencies extend their local resources more easily to the cloud.

Ultimately, real modernization and effective transformation in government are dependent not just on the right technologies, but also on awareness in the IT workforce. Agile development, cultural change, and the right platforms can be the best combination of people and technology to help agencies further their modernization efforts.

Download the GovLoop guide here. And learn more about migration and transformation at the AWS Public Sector Summit in Washington, DC June 12-14. Register to attend here.